PixProof

Photographers often need a method for clients to go through images or proofs from a photo shoot and select photos they are interested in. In the past, I’ve had to build my own separate section of my website to add this type of functionality. Thankfully, now WordPress site owners can use a plugin such as PixProof by PixelGrade to easily include proofing for your clients.

PixProof uses a WordPress custom post type to implement a simple, but effective proofing mechanism in your WP photography website. A custom post type is simply another type of website page you create in WordPress. So, instead of creating a page or post, you create a Proof Gallery document.

After installing and activating the Pixproof plugin, you get an additional Proof Galleries menu on the left side of your WordPress dashboard.

Clicking Add New on the menu will bring up a new proof gallery backend screen. It looks very much like a regular WordPress post or page with an added section for your gallery data. You can enter text into the top section just as you would for any WP post. To add your photos to the gallery, click on the picture icon under the Pixproof Gallery section.

Pixproof accesses your Media Library, so you can add images the way you normally do in WordPress.

Thumbnails of your images will then appear in your gallery post. Below that, you enter your client’s name and photo shoot date. You can also specify how you want your photos labeled for identification. For example, you can use consecutive numbers (1,2,3…), filenames, or a combination of ID number and photo title. Optionally, you can also add a .zip archive of images that your client can download.

What’s nice about using Pixproof is you get to use WordPress’s built in functionality. You can use commenting to communicate with your clients about photos in your galleries. And, you can password protect your proof galleries for your clients—the same way you do with your WP posts and pages. On the right side of the gallery backend screen, select Password Protected under Visibility and enter the password you create. Hint: Don’t use 12345!

You can then give your client the URL and password of the gallery for their exclusive access. When your client accesses the gallery page via URL, they’ll get the WordPress password prompt.

After entering the correct password, they can view and access the images.

Your client can communicate feedback by scrolling down and entering comments.

Clicking on a thumbnail will open up a larger image.

PixProof is a great plugin that utilizes a lot of WordPress’s built in functionality to allow you to create proof galleries that your clients can access to browse and select photos. PixProof is very easy to use and does an effective job in providing a much needed feature for many photographers.